Dean: Iraqi Standard of Living Worse Now

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-3670051,00.html

Dean: Iraqi Standard of Living Worse Now

Monday January 26, 2004 12:31 PM
By NEDRA PICKLER Associated Press Writer

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) - Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean said Sunday that the standard of living for Iraqis is a ``whole lot worse'' since Saddam Hussein's removal from power in last year's American-led invasion.

"You can say that it's great that Saddam is gone and I'm sure that a lot of Iraqis feel it is great that Saddam is gone," said the former Vermont governor, an unflinching critic of the war against Iraq. "But a lot of them gave their lives. And their living standard is a whole lot worse now than it was before."
<snip>

"Now I would never defend Saddam Hussein,"'' Dean told the "Women for Dean" rally. "He's a horrible person. I'm delighted he's gone. Would there not have been a better way to get rid of him in cooperation with the United Nations?"
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If you do not tremble before the edifice of Saddam The Evil, then what kind of politician are you?

Paper tigers are supposed to make us all afraid.

Two days before the primary.

Why say this when you have the opportunity to not say this?

Even if true, is that a fair way to judge the situation? it gives the impression that material concerns are more important that freedom from a brutal dictatorship. That kinda line sounds like Republican values, not ours.

will come back to haunt Dean in the GE. I am concerned about him shooting his mouth off at every opportunity.

on what you call standard of living.

I would say that if if you are free and not in jail where they hook up car batteries to your testicles and your wife and daughters aren't being raped then your standard of living is better.

But then again, there weren't any suicide bombings before we got there.
It is a tough call. I would say though that it is better left unsaid during the primaries. You're screwed either way.

I guess it is how you look at it, what do you guys think?

...by graduates of the School of the Americas.

I would say that if if you are free and not in jail
where they hook up car batteries to your testicles and
your wife and daughters aren't being raped then your
standard of living is better.

I would have quipped that we just have different guy's
testicles hooked up to the car batteries now, but that's
not true; we probably don't have anybody's testicles
hooked up to car batteries.

We outsource THAT work.

Tesha

There is a difference between your standard of living and civil liberties. Dean was talking about the standard of living for Iraqis. Since the invasion, unemployment in Iraq has increased dramatically. I would say that the standard of living for those individuals is lower than it was before the war.

We should not ignore the fact that the crime rate in Iraq has also skyrocketed. Rapes and kidnapings have increased significantly since the invasion. This fact has forced Iraqis to change their lifestyles. Women no longer stay out as long as they did before the war and parents have started picking up their children from the schools.

Dean's statement might not have been politically correct but it was factually correct. I am glad that he said it because people need to understand how wars effect the civilian population of a country.

By September, everyone'll be used to taking everything out of context, and the RW media's spin will be worthless, it seems.

The RW media will blow this way up, but the fact is, dead people DO have a worse standard of living than living people.